Manage the Critical Intersection Between Technology and Relationships with Social Intelligence

Manage the Critical Intersection Between Technology and Relationships with Social Intelligence

What is Social Intelligence?

Critical to Your Success

If your success or the success of your company involves achieving results through others and those others happen to work for you or buy from you, then creating a Socially Intelligent culture is critical to your success.

Science has proven that we are fundamentally wired to connect. Our brains are social circuits that help us to navigate through every encounter we have – with our teams, with our managers, with our clients. This neural system operates in any interaction where tuning and timing are important. They give the manager the sense that this is the person to hire, the employee a sense of attachment to a corporate purpose and a sales rep the sense that the she has finally negotiated the right deal with the client. More than that, our social world impacts not just our brain, but our biology. Bad relationships are toxic, and toxic isn’t a word associated with high-performing organizations.

The Corrosion of Social Intelligence

Unfortunately, our society and therefore business is experiencing a corrosion of Social Intelligence – the ability to navigate and negotiate complex social relationships and environments. And, nowhere are social relationships more critical and complex than in the workplace. Business is suffering the unintended consequences of what Daniel Goleman calls “social autism”.

We are struggling with unmet cross-generational expectations regarding what is social and what is relational, and the transition is proving to be painful. This shouldn’t be seen as a struggle between Boomers, Xers and Millennials, but rather about managing expectations and being intentional in creating the new norm.

Relationship Management

Statistics show that 89% of people picked up their phone in their last face to face encounter.

The Relational Economy isn’t healthy. We can no longer assume that our people have the skills needed for impression management, influence, face to face interaction and situational awareness.

Relationship management is at the root of every successful business whether the relationship is with your employee (measured by engagement), with your teams (measured by productivity), or with your client (measured in revenue and profit).

The Companies that Win

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that this is a problem with Millennials or that it can be solved with yet another training program.

Socially Intelligent organizations are deliberate in building systems, processes and cultures that cross generational boundaries and coach employees to be intelligent about relationships and in them.

These are the companies who win the top talent and the most loyal clients.

Without Social Intelligence, your organization is likely seeing:

Cross Generational Disconnect and Lack of Engagement

71% of Millennials in the workforce are disengaged. Does it matter? It does. Millennials represent one third of todays workers. Because they tend to leave a job within three years, employers are reticent to develop them – and yet, development is exactly the strategy for engaging them and keeping them.

Cross Generational Disconnect and Lack of Engagement

Re-Engaging Your Workforce

71% of Millennials in the workforce are disengaged. Does it matter? It does. Millennials represent one third of todays workers. Because they tend to leave a job within three years, employers are reticent to develop them – and yet, development is exactly the strategy for engaging them and keeping them.

Millennials rate Communication/Influencing, Relationship-building and Leadership as their three most needed skills. This is the first generation where Social Intelligence has lagged behind technological intelligence.

If you have an engagement problem, it’s likely that:

Your leaders are using an outdated transactional and hierarchical method of leading

Stagnant or Declining Client Growth

The first argument from the sales force when sales are lost is often the stagnant economy or the pricing structure of their products or services. Usually, neither is at the root. All things being equal, the way that you engage your customer will determine your success every time.

Stagnant or Declining Client Growth

The first argument from the sales force when sales are lost is often the stagnant economy or the pricing structure of their products or services. Usually, neither is at the root. All things being equal, the way that you engage your customer will determine your success every time. Customers have convinced you that it is all about the math and, in fact, they believe their own story. But, studies consistently show that the math has less to do with the outcome than your ability to influence and persuade.

Declining growth can be a symptom of poor Social Intelligence. Do your hunters know how to have conversations that win? Have they won your biggest accounts only to have them passed to account teams who don’t have the skills to further develop the relationship? Do you do all of the talking in joint business planning sessions with the client?

You might feel that you already have a ‘client-focused’ organization. We hear this a lot. The aha happens after an organization see that their systems and processes are misaligned with this approach; that client-focused has become just a buzzword or a good intention with nothing to support it – or worse, that their processes discourage it. A Socially Intelligent sales and account management organization is a clear differentiator in a commoditized market.

Unproductive Project Teams

Organizations typically focus on aligning individual goals to organizational strategy. Equally important is having a Socially Intelligent team that is aligned with each other. Often what is missing is a common, inspiring purpose to motivate and retain individuals on the team and consensus on…

Unproductive Project Teams

Organizations typically focus on ‘vertical alignment’, aligning individual goals to organizational strategy. Equally important is having a Socially Intelligent team that is aligned with each other.

Often what is missing is a common, inspiring purpose (not mission/vision) to motivate and retain individuals on the team and consensus on team norms for working and communicating together.

Research shows that having the right processes and task-related communication reduces conflict, improves trust and improves team performance.

Our Approach

Discovery

Organizational Audit

Social Intelligence Roadmap

Action

Clients Who Love Jane

In Their Words

Jane and her approach to business have become part of our culture. You can see her influence at a variety of levels within our organization. Our sales people perform their roles with a sophistication that we never experienced before working with Jane. The bottom line is that we are winning bigger accounts and more business.

– Vice President and General Manager, Czarnowski

Jane is a valued member of our team. She’s learned our company, our culture and our customers as well as any of our own people. Her experience and knowledge have helped us to connect better with our internal and external customers. As a result of her contributions, our sales team has reached a level that distinguishes us in the marketplace.

– Franchise Network Director, MilliCare Textile and Carpet Care

Our Interface Conference was a striking success! Your message was perfect for our group and stole the show receiving overwhelming positive scores from our audience. Many of our clients and employees told me afterwards that they are looking forward to implementing your insights and ideas. There is no doubt you had a major impact on the audience. I hope you’ll be able to join us again at a future event.